Carlos Alcaraz dropped just seven games in his season-opening win over Alexander Shevchenko at the Australian Open Monday, but said that he was seeking improvement in his game - especially on serve - ahead of his second-round clash with Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka.
“I think I played at a great level,” said Alcaraz. “Honestly, the first match of the season, you never know what it’ll be like. I felt confident it would go well, but you never know,” he continued. “I’m very, very happy with my level and with everything I did today, but I really want to improve for the next round. I lost my focus a little, I felt disconnected, that’s something that can happen in the first match of the season. That’s why I want to improve.”
It was also the first test for Alcaraz’s new serve technique under the gun and, as is to be expected, he is still adjusting. He put just 59 per cent of first serves into play in his 6-1, 7-5, 6-1 win over the Kazakhstani, winning a modest 69 per cent of those points.
“Today I struggled a little with my serve,” admitted the Spaniard. “In practice everything is probably a bit easier than in competition. New things are always a little difficult at first and as the days go by I hope it gets better. Certainly, in the coming days we’ll try and practise it and make it more natural,” he continued.
“Now I’m thinking too much about hitting the ball, the movement, the timing... there are a lot of things in my head before serving, and I hope it becomes more natural in the coming days,” he added of his new, more-fluid serving motion.
“We decided to try and not have any pauses to improve the timing,” continued Alcaraz. “There are a lot of servers who don’t pause, others do. In the end, it’s down to how you feel, but we knew we had to change something, that we had to improve, adapt, and I think this change will be an improvement. We’ll look for another way if that’s not the case, but I’m confident. With Juan Carlos [Ferrero] and Samu [López] we decided to do it like that, and I think it’ll go well.”
Alcaraz is bidding to become the youngest player in history to complete the Grand Slam by winning the fourth and final major in the set.
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